


Schizophrenic

by Shockcakes



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comic), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Angst and Humor, Developing Relationship, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Mentions of Pre-Reboot Archie Sonic, Post Reboot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-08
Updated: 2019-07-08
Packaged: 2020-06-24 19:07:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19729963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shockcakes/pseuds/Shockcakes
Summary: A story about Sonic and Sally connecting about their past lives,then embarrassing themselves in front of a six-year-old child.





	Schizophrenic

Sonic could handle saving the world.

Legions of badniks swarming him on all fronts? Sure thing. An insidious ego driven madman bent on recreating all life in his own image? Easy peasy. The entire planet splitting apart like a cosmic jigsaw puzzle? A bit dicey, but no sweat.

Consoling your maybe-more-than-a-friend after learning she was a sadistic roboticized menace? Not so much.

Sally hadn’t fully recovered since the shock. New memories – or were they old ones? – flooded her brain. He could tell. Uncertainty was written all over her face. The same happened to him not a full 24 hours before. She saw what he and the rest of the Freedom Fighters had seen and she was handling it just as well as they were:

Holing up somewhere quiet and sulking about it.

Sonic found her in Sky Patrol’s new command deck. The team had just de-escalated the situation in Station Square, thanks in part to her quick thinking. Sonic shuddered to think what would’ve happened if they didn’t provide enough time for G.U.N. to step in.

That crisis was over for now – and everyone was left to ponder these new thoughts. Unwelcome thoughts. Sally, in particular, seemed spooked by her stint as Eggman’s robotic enforcer.

Meanwhile, Sonic felt himself shudder every time the word “juice” popped into his mind for some reason. He bopped his disobedient noggin before any further catchphrases could rear their ugly heads.

What were the odds that he was better at this in the other timeline?

 _Miniscule,_ Sonic deduced as he remembered an unwanted clash with his twin-tailed best friend.

“Hey, Sal?” He finally said after pacing in front of the door for the better half of an hour. The Acorn princess perked up, turning to him with seemingly perfect composure. “How uhh…how ya holding up?”

Sally didn’t immediately answer. “F-Fine! Fine! Just kinda rattled is all!” She put up a smile a best as she could.

He could see it in her eyes – were they always that blue? – Sally wasn’t fine at all. She didn’t need to be introduced to the latest of a seemingly never-ending torrent of calamities; same for facing said calamity with the knowledge of being a mechanized menace pounding at the back of her head.

“Oh. Uhh.”

Sonic’s brain was virtually frying itself trying to formulate a response. How would Nicole deal with this? Something along the lines of getting her to talk about it. Yeah. That seemed solid.

“Sal, you know you ahh…you don’t have to put up a strong face all the time because of what we saw.” That’s good. That was A+ advice right there.

Her expression changed; Sonic hated to see her frown.

“I…” Sally began but words only failed her. Even with the memory divergence, Sally’s “actions speak louder” mentality remained prevalent.

She decided to have a conversation.

Sonic was surprised when he found her arms wrapped around him. Sally hugged him, her grip almost desperate. Like if she ran the risk of him disappearing in front of her very eyes.

He wasn’t sure how to hug her back. He was supposed to hug her back right? That seemed like something the other him would do in this situation. Then again, the other him…and the _other_ Sally were-

“A couple of things have been just…buzzing around in my brain since…well.” Sally released him almost unwillingly.

Sonic regained some semblance of his composure. That hug affected him in ways he’d never admit. It only just dawned on him that this was the second time he actually – the other him – felt her warmth. “Like what?”

“Just…that whole experience. Being roboticized.” Her arms folded as if there was a sudden chill in the room. “It was like being stuck in a literal nightmare.”

Sonic’s jumbled mind fished out a memory along the same lines of that description. “Believe it or not, I know what you mean. Well, a version of me anyway. Do _not_ care for roboticization.”

Sally smiled warmly. It had been a while since he saw her do that – or had it been for him now? His brain was really having a tough time catching up.

…That was something Sonic never once believed would happen.

“It did feel like a nightmare when it happened to you…” Sonic said. The command deck darkened somewhat, like the mere mention of the event stole any remaining light from the room.

“It almost felt like it was still happening when after I grabbed Nicole,”

“But it’s not. You’re here now.” Sonic smiled earnestly. This consoling stuff was starting to get a bit easier. “I’m happy enough for that, shattered planet or not.”

A beat of silence passed before it actually dawned on Sonic what he said.

“Sorry! Too soon.” He winced. “Th-That could’ve been worded better.”

The princess chuckled almost smugly. “Yeeeeah, it could’ve.”

There was an air of comfort now. Precisely what the two of them needed.

In a fashion befitting him, Sonic acted faster than he mind was able to track. “Sal, do you remember uhh…” His tongue twisted, seemingly losing his nerve at the last second. Not something he often does.

“Us?” Sally finished. “I do”

“Oh…Ohhhhh.”

“Yeah.”

Sonic scratched the side of his cheek, seemingly attempting to hide his blush. Sally too reached a shade of pink. Not that he found it to be _cute_ or anything, he was just saying. Thinking rather. Was it actually him thinking or was it the other-

He smacked his forehead, masking it as doing a quick comb of his quills. Why did he do things? Why was he awkward now?

“Sonic,” Sally’s voice snapped him out of his internal self turmoil, “could I ask you something?”

“Oh! Uhh, yeah sure.”

“Do you…would you want us to…be a thing again?”

Sonic swallowed. He hadn’t broken into a sweat this fast since chasing the Egg Carrier through Red Mountain. She put him on the spot. How was he supposed to stop himself saying “ _It’s all I’ve wanted for years_ ” without sounding like a total idiot.

In truth, Sonic – of _this_ timeline – might have given the prospect some thought in the past. Now he had another Sonic’s history to go by. Memories of adventure, loss, hardship.

Heartbreak.

He wondered if she remembered things the same way.

“Sonic? Are you still there or is there now _another_ timeline that you suddenly know about?”

“Huh? O-Oh!” Her joke earned her a light chuckle from him. He decided not to mention supposed antics in some place involving the cops overseeing exactly what she said. “Well uh, I dunno. Things weren’t easy when we were together, I vaguely remember.”

Relationship triangles, miscommunications, an evil doppelganger poking his unwelcome head where it didn’t belong. Sonic never knew his love life could be so needlessly complicated.

Sally laughed. “When has something not being easy stopped you before?”

“Good point! Are you trying to charm me, Acorn? Cuz you might be winning me over.”

“Oh? Are you gonna swoon for me now?”

They both laughed, blissfully unaware of the fact that they were holding hands now.

“Hey, why don’t we explore around this place a little?” Sonic grinned gingerly. “I think the only places I’ve actually been in are my room and the kitchen!”

“Now did that come from this dimension’s Sonic or the other’s? I can’t tell.” Sally quipped with a smirk.

\--

“Miss Sally? Mister Sonic?”

Sonic could (mostly) handle his memories being jumbled up harder than the planet currently was. He just discovered he could handle cheering up his now-close-friend-turned-girlfriend in her time of interdimensional existential dread. Honestly, what _couldn’t_ he do at this point?

Explain to a six-year-old why both he and said girlfriend were making out in a storage closet.

The two froze in place, arms still on each others’ shoulders and faces steadily moving apart, all while little Cream curiously watched. Both Sonic and Sally’s muddled minds couldn’t formulate proper responses. Good thing their collective fight or flight instincts did.

“WELL SONIC, THAT’S THE STORAGE CLOSET SEE YOU LATER!”

“GEE THANKS FOR CLEARING THAT UP SAL, BYE!”

They cleared out, Sally almost matching Sonic’s speed. The last thing either party needed was to have _that_ talk with Cream.

In the back of both their heads, they prayed no memory of that scenario from the previous timeline would surface.


End file.
